Ole Miss may have a familiar name to watch in the coming days, but the odds of a reunion are still slim.
Current Cleveland Browns tight end and former Rebel Dae’Quan Wright has an interest in returning to college football, a source told Ole Miss On SI on Thursday. Not long after that report surfaced, Wright officially entered the transfer portal, making him the first active NFL player to ever do so.
Wright’s path back, though, is tied to what happens with the Browns. His roster status will be settled within the next 10 days, and that matters because the move is permitted under a recent court ruling. The NCAA is expected to appeal that decision.
On Wednesday, a Louisiana judge issued a temporary restraining order for a group of 32 athletes against NCAA eligibility rules. Wright is part of that group, along with former Rebels Zxavian Harris and Wydett Williams. Harris also entered the portal on Wednesday, while Williams has not shown any interest in continuing his college career.
Still, a return to Oxford looks unlikely for all three.
Wright was one of Ole Miss’ most productive pass catchers over the past two seasons, finishing with 66 receptions, 1,029 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Before landing with the Rebels, he began his college career at Virginia Tech and spent his first two seasons there.
His pro journey has moved quickly. Wright initially signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent earlier this spring before being picked up by the Browns.
Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding addressed the possibility of adding players from the 2022 high school class earlier this summer, but that discussion centered on players who had used up their four-year window and had not signed a professional contract. Wednesday’s ruling changed that part of the equation, opening the door for a small group of former NFL players to return to college.
“I think under the guidelines that were already in place since I had taken the job we’ve managed this roster and this team based on those rules. I think the timing of this isn’t perfect to create a lot of opportunities for certain people when you already have a roster limit.
There’s no new additions and umbrellas like they did with COVID or anything like that. Yes, obviously there was conversations with a couple of those guys from ‘22 that are in other camps,” Golding said earlier this month.
“Kind of talking what’s the health of those guys? What’s the status?
What’s that look like? But more from a standpoint of if somebody was to get injured during camp and something became available, then you’d have a body to go to that’s actually been in this system and all those type of things.
Our numbers are what they are right now and we’re where we need to be, but definitely there’s been conversations in case something was to occur that we would need to go that direction.”
All 53-man NFL rosters will be finalized on August 30.
In Other News...
Former Ole Miss TE Suddenly Sits At Center Of A Wild Eligibility Twist
Dae'Quan Wright has landed in a strange new spot for a player already in the NFL, with the Cleveland Browns rookie tight end entering the NCAA transfer portal and becoming the first active pro to do it. For Ole Miss fans, it is the kind of headline that instantly pulls an old name back into the conversation, because the former Rebels tight end is now tied to a legal and procedural shift that could open an unusual path back to college football.
A temporary restraining order from a Louisiana judge has put the NCAAs five-year eligibility clock under new pressure, creating a window for players with professional experience to potentially return to college. Wright is not alone in feeling out the edges of that ruling, as several other former NFL players are expected to explore the portal or pursue eligibility challenges, turning what once looked like a closed chapter into one of the sports most unexpected offseason storylines. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Suddenly Has A High Stakes Eligibility Fight To Watch
A new eligibility dispute has put three former Ole Miss players back in the spotlight, even as they are trying to move on to the next level. DaeQuan Wright, Wydett Williams Jr. and Zxavian Harris were part of a lawsuit against the NCAA that grew out of a federal court injunction for athletes in the 2022 recruiting class, a case tied to the leagues five-for-five plan and the push for a little more flexibility on college eligibility.
For Ole Miss, the practical stakes are easy to see. Wright and Williams are already in NFL training camp after signing as undrafted free agents, while Harris is part of the same legal picture that could reshape whether any of them have a college option waiting if pro football does not stick. It is the kind of ruling that can linger around a program long after the roster has turned over, especially when the next step for former Rebels is still being sorted out. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Suddenly Has An Unusual Roster Decision To Make
Ole Miss has suddenly been forced to think about former players in a way that hardly ever comes up, with Dea'Quan Wright now eligible to return to college football after a court ruling gave him and other athletes an extra year of eligibility. Wright, who spent time at Ole Miss before heading into the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, entered the transfer portal and became eligible to return on Aug. 19, creating an unusual twist in a late-summer roster conversation that usually centers on current Rebels.
Zxavian Harris added another layer to the odd sequence of events when the former Ole Miss defensive tackle also entered the portal after being cut by the New Orleans Saints. For a program that is accustomed to tracking the next round of roster movement, the possibility of former Rebels reappearing in the college game is an uncommon wrinkle, and it leaves open the question of whether this eligibility change could eventually send more familiar names back into the SEC picture. [Read more 🡒]